MERV Griffin found him in England and NBC will introduce him to America in January.

His name is Ainsley Harriott and he hosts a flamboyanttalk show in which celebrity guests join him for conversation and cooking in a kitchen studio.

Under a deal announced yesterday, the new U.S.-made “Ainsley Harriott Show” will be seen on 13 NBC-owned TV stations in a one-hour time period yet to be decided.

While some reports in trade papers said the show would replace the low-rated Aaron Spelling soap “Sunset Beach” at noon weekdays, NBC officials insisted yesterday that no decision has been made yet to cancel the sudser.

“Harriott” will be produced in New York by Merv Griffin Entertainment, and syndicated by Disney-owned Buena Vista Television. The deal with the NBC station group – which has shelved Roseanne’s talk show even though the company is obligated to continue paying millions in license fees to King World – revives a show that attracted little interest when it was first offered in syndication.

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The New York Lottery is pulling the plug on two of its TV shows.

“New York Wired” and “The Winner Next Door” will have their last broadcasts this month.

The two shows were criticized by some who complained they played like program-length promotional commercials for the New York Lottery. In addition, not only were the shows low-rated, but sources at local TV stations say there was little demand on the part of sponsors to buy commercial time on them.

It doesn’t seem likely the two shows will be replaced. “We’re pooling those resources to possibly launch [a new project],” a lottery spokesman said. “It’s totally in development so whether or not there’d be a TV component I don’t really know, but it would not specifically be a TV show like these are.”

“New York Wired” premiered two years ago on Ch. 4 with the station’s Janice Huff as host. It’s aired this past year on Ch. 5 with Cheryl Washington. The one-year-old “Winner Next Door,” hosted by Huff, profiles lottery winners who have used their winnings to help their communities through charitable deeds.

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CHANNEL SURFING: It’s a small world after all – just ask judges Judy and Jerry Sheindlin. They were on a cruise to Alaska two weeks ago when they ran into none other than Judge Joseph Wapner (and his wife, Mickey), the original judge on the old “People’s Court,” the show Judge Jerry now presides over weekdays at 3 p.m. on Ch. 4. Judge Jerry told the story to Larry King last week on CNN. “He was on the same boat,” Jerry said. “And so the joke was, ‘If this ship goes down, three court programs go right down too!'” Judge Wapner, along with his old bailiff, Rusty Burrell, can be seen these days presiding over “Judge Wapner’s Animal Court,” Monday through Saturday at 7 p.m. on Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet … How about a talk show hosted by a handsome, 30-year-old priest? That’s who Spanish-language Telemundo has tapped for a new show covering “everything from sex to salvation.” The priest is Father Albert Cutie (pronounced Koo-tee-ay). The show is called “Padre Alberto,” and it will air weekdays at 4 p.m. on Ch. 47, beginning Sept. 27.